Pears Cyclopaedia 2003-2004 Book

You know summer really has arrived when the sunny, neat, fact-packed Pears Cyclopaedia makes its annual appearance. Having begun in the late 19th century as part of an advertising campaign for Pears Soap--to keep the general public informed about the issues of the day, to equip them for social discourse, satisfy their curiosity and widen their learning--the 2003-2004 version, no longer linked with the soap but retaining the name, is the 112th edition. Its eclecticism is remarkable. Its 21 sections--still in a nostalgic late Victorian design--range from a political compendium to a literary companion, and from a dictionary of computing to background to world affairs. It's an atlas as well as a biblical concordance, gazetteer and history. And there's an excellent 80-page section on the world of science, arranged in seven parts, the last of which focuses on current developments. Where else could you learn that 499 BC saw the "revolt of Ionian Greek cities against Persian King Darius", that in 1946 Lovely Cottage won the grand National while Airborne romped home first in the Derby and that Pantagruel is the leading character in one of the satires of Rabelais--all in a single volume almost small enough to go in a pocket? There's no doubt that if you were restricted to just one reference book this would have to be it. Another plus for Pears is that it's always bang up to date. The 2003-2004 edition has new entries on SARS, Saddam Hussein, allergies, laser technology, the green city concept and the transport debate. --Susan ElkinRead More